Study Reveals Online Search is Still the Most Efficient Method of Acquiring New Clients

27. October 2006 by Damian Petrini.

According to a recent article on InternetRetailer.com, a study by Piper Jaffray & Co. showed that search engines are still the most efficient method by far at acquiring new clients.

The study revealed that at an average acquisition cost of $8.50 per client, Internet search was shown to be more than twice as efficient as the next-best marketing channel in a study of five channels.

The five marketing channels covered in the study compared the customer acquisition costs of online search, yellow page ads, online display ads, e-mail and direct mail.

Here is a breakdown comparison of the average acquisition costs per client:

Online Search - $8.50 per client acquisition
Yellow Page Ads - $20 per client acquisition
Online Display Ads - $50 per client acquisition
E-Mail Marketing - $60 per client acquisition
Direct Mail - $70 per client acquisition

Yellow Pages came in as the second-most efficient at $20 per customer acquisition, followed by online display ads, $50; e-mail, $60; and direct mail, $70.

Also concluded in the study was that consumers are becoming more likely to use Internet search to research and find products and services, rather than going to online marketplaces. And with the growth of local search, the current number of 700,000 online advertisers could reach 2-4 million over the next five years.

This study demonstrates the importance of developing a successful and strategic search engine optimization and search engine marketing plan for your business, as well as for each of your products and services.

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